1992 School Magazine

SPACECAMP TRIP Friday 18th September was an extremely memorable morning for twelve excited students and two equally excit- ed teachers, Miss Stephens and Miss MCAdam, as this was the beginning of an adventure for all of us. We were embarking on a journey half-way across the globe to attend The Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville- Decataur, stopping in a few other prime spots to soak up the knowledge, sun or shopping advantages, so it was a rather good reason to be excited.

also included a great deal of practical work in simulators. The lecturers really opened our eyes as to the diversity of subjects, topics, and careers relative to space travel. We were really encouraged to apply ourselves and absorb as much about space as possible, but at the same time were not pressured to understand every single thing that we were taught. it came time to pertonn our skills in one twelve hour mis- sion (after three two hour missions as practices) and it was on this that we were tested. Although we were tested in such a challenging way, it was a great deal of fun and we all had a great feeling of achievement when we finally graduated, on our last day. it was hard work, but nothing beyond anyone's capabilities, and in the end, an extremely rewarding experience.

After a rather trying sixteen plus hours flying, and strug- gling through customs, time changes and goodness knows what else, we finally arrived at our first destination, Los Angeles, which is more familiarly known as LAX. The only disadvantage was the fact that even though we were rather tired after travelling for such a long time, we had arrived at approximately ten in the morning so we had a full day ahead of us. This seemed a daunting prospect, but the thought of touring around in limousines and visiting Universal Studios soon put our fatigue far behind us (until that evening anyway). Rising early the next morning to catch another series of planes was a great deal harder than it sounds, but everyone managed it somehow. Quite a few hours later, after a small detour through Elvis' hometown, Memphis, we arrived in the place where we would be spending the next eight days, which were the most fantastic eight days of my life. We hadlanded_in Huntsville-Decataur A1abama, the town in which Space-camp is situated. Upon arriving, it was like entering another world. The habitat was futuristic looking, and it was just the start of bigger and better things to Attending Space-camp, in some aspects, was similar to attending school in that we had lectures just about all day every day. The difference was that these lectures covered aspects we had never really touched upon before, and they come.

Our next stop was Orlando, Florida, thankfulIy not the site recently affected by a hurricane. it was in Orlando that we visited The Kennedy Space Centre, where we were fortu- nate to see (from a distance) the various launch sites of Cape Can averal, and experience a new kind of ice-cream called Space Dots; and visit the EPCott Centre and Magic Kingdom, both of which are a part of Disneyworld. These places were also a great mixture between fun and informa- tion, and I'm quite sure we could have spent a lot longer there absorbing it all, but home was calling. Before we could see Australian soil again, however, we were scheduled to spend a relaxing time in the sun in Hawaii. Shopping in the many stores and sunning our- selves on Hawaii's unique beaches drained so much ener- gy, it was a miracle that we all survived long enough to celebrate our holiday in a traditional Luau, and then drag ourselves to the airport for the last leg of our journey. After going through customs in Sydney, and boarding our final plane to Brisbane, we could hardly believe that we were really home. When the familiar sights of More ton Bay and Siradbroke Island came into view many people

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